09-04-2025
In response to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG)’s response to the consultation to overhaul local audit in England, CIPFA Director of Public Financial Management Iain Murray, said:
“CIFPA welcomes the publication of this response. Local audit should play a vital part in providing assurance over local government spending, funding, and governance. Increasing delays and backlogs in England have steadily undermined that purpose. We support the establishment of a new Local Audit Office to oversee the system and lead a return to timely, meaningful oversight and assurance. We look forward to working with government and with the LAO as a key system partner, as we move from managing the immediate impact of backstop dates towards rebuilding assurance.”
“CIPFA is pleased that the responsibility for setting the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting will remain with us. We strongly believe this is the right decision, and that a UK-wide code should not be owned by an England-only body. Nonetheless, we recognise that meaningful reforms are required — both to the Code itself and the process by which it is set — to support the recovery of the local audit system, and to enable clearer, more proportionate reporting by local authorities.”
“We look forward to progressing these reforms in collaboration with MHCLG, the devolved administration and, when it is established, the LAO. Work is already underway through CIPFA’s Better Reporting Group, and we are pleased to welcome Rachael Sanders, Section 151 Officer at Herefordshire Council, as the permanent Chair of the BRG.”
“We also welcome future engagement with MHCLG on options to transition the Code to a free-to-access funding model. We believe this will help drive greater engagement with local authority reporting and improve transparency across the sector.”
Notes to editor
- Find out more about CIPFA’s Better Reporting Group (BRG).
- For further inquiries, please contact the CIPFA Press Office press@cipfa.org.